Association between visual acuity and prospective fall risk in generally healthy and active older adults

• Verfasst von: Wieczorek, Maud [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Isler, Marlis [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Landau, Klara [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Becker, Matthias D. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Dawson-Hughes, Bess [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Kressig, Reto W. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Vellas, Bruno [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Orav, Endel John [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Rizzoli, René [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Kanis, John A. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Armbrecht, Gabriele [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Da Silva, José António P. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Egli, Andreas [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Freystätter, Gregor [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bischoff-Ferrari, Heike A. [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Association between visual acuity and prospective fall risk in generally healthy and active older adults
• Titelzusatz: the 3-year DO-HEALTH study
• Verf.angabe: Maud Wieczorek (PhD), Marlis Isler, Klara Landau (MD), Matthias D. Becker (MD), Bess Dawson-Hughes (MD), Reto W. Kressig (MD), Bruno Vellas (MD), Endel John Orav (PhD), René Rizzoli (MD), John A. Kanis (MD), Gabriele Armbrecht (MD), José António P. Da Silva (MD), Andreas Egli (MD), Gregor Freystätter (MD), Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari (MD, DrPH), for the DO-HEALTH Research Group
• E-Jahr: 2024
• Jahr: May 2024
• Umfang: 9 S.
• Fussnoten: Online veröffentlicht: 16. April 2024 ; Gesehen am 11.02.2025
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: American Medical Directors AssociationJournal of the American Medical Directors Association
• Ort Quelle: New York, NY : Elsevier, 2001
• Jahr Quelle: 2024
• Band/Heft Quelle: Volume 25, Issue 5 (May 2024), Seite 789-795, 795.e1-795.e2
• ISSN Quelle: 1538-9375
• DOI: doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2024.03.005
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: DO-HEALTH
• Sach-SW: falls
• Sach-SW: injurious falls
• Sach-SW: older adults
• Sach-SW: visual acuity
• K10plus-PPN: 1917005857

Abstract

Objective - Although aging has a strong impact on visual acuity (VA) and falls, their interaction is understudied in generally healthy older adults. This study aimed to examine if and to what extent baseline VA is associated with an increased risk of all and injurious falls over 3 years in generally healthy community-dwelling older adults. - Design - Observational analysis of DO-HEALTH, a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. - Setting and Participants - Multicenter trial with 7 European centers: Zurich, Basel, Geneva (Switzerland), Berlin (Germany), Innsbruck (Austria), Toulouse (France), and Coimbra (Portugal), including 2157 community-dwelling adults aged 70 years and older without any major health events in the 5 years prior to enrollment, sufficient mobility, and good cognitive status. - Methods - The numbers of all and injurious falls were recorded prospectively by diary and in-person assessment every 3 months. Decreased VA at baseline was defined as better-eye VA lower than 1.0. We applied negative binomial regression models for all and injurious falls, adjusted for age, sex, prior falls, treatment allocation, study site, baseline body mass index, and use of walking aids. - Results - Among the 2131 participants included in this analysis (mean age: 74.9 years, 61.7% were women, 82.6% at least moderately physically active), 1464 (68.7%) had decreased VA. Overall, 3290 falls including 2116 injurious falls were recorded over 3 years. Decreased VA at baseline was associated with a 22% increased incidence rate of all falls [adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) = 1.22, 95% CI 1.07, 1.38, P = .003] and 20% increased incidence rate of injurious falls (aIRR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.05, 1.37, P = .007). - Conclusions and Implications - Our findings suggest that decreased VA is an independent predictor of an about 20% increased risk of all and injurious falls, highlighting the importance of regular eye examinations and VA measurements for fall prevention, even in generally healthy and active older adults.